# Vélo d'Or

The Vélo d'Or (French for "Golden Bicycle") is an annual cycle racing award, given to the cyclist considered to have performed the best over the racing season. It is awarded by the French cycling magazine Vélo Magazine, with the winner chosen by a panel of international cycling journalists. The Vélo d'Or is considered one of cycling's highest individual honors, similar to the Ballon d'Or in football.
Since 2022, the Vélo d'Or Femmes has also been awarded to the best female cyclist of the season. Both trophies are presented each year at the Pavillon Gabriel in Paris, alongside several sub-categories: the Eddy Merckx Trophy, awarded to the best classics rider since 2023, and the Chris Hoy Trophy, awarded to the best Olympics discipline rider since 2024. There are also awards for French riders: from 1992 to 2022, the Vélo d'Or français was given to the best overall French cyclist. Since 2023, this has been subdivided into two awards: the "Trophée Bernard Hinault" for road cycling and the "Trophée Daniel Morelon" for other cycling disciplines.
Alberto Contador holds the record for the most awards, winning the Vélo d'Or four times: in 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2014. Lance Armstrong initially won the Vélo d'Or five times, but these victories were nullified after the USADA stripped him of his Tour de France titles following doping allegations and his eventual confession. The Vélo d'Or awards for these years were not reassigned to the runners-up.

## Men's awards
### Vélo d'Or winners

| Year | Winner | Second | Third |
| 1992 | Miguel Indurain (ESP) | Tony Rominger (SUI) | Claudio Chiappucci (ITA) |
| 1993 | Miguel Indurain (ESP) | Maurizio Fondriest (ITA) | Tony Rominger (SUI) |
| 1994 | Tony Rominger (SUI) | Miguel Indurain (ESP) | Eugeni Berzin (RUS) |
| 1995 | Laurent Jalabert (FRA) | Miguel Indurain (ESP) | Abraham Olano (ESP) |
| 1996 | Johan Museeuw (BEL) | Bjarne Riis (DEN) | Alex Zülle (SUI) |
| 1997 | Jan Ullrich (GER) | Laurent Jalabert (FRA) | Marco Pantani (ITA) |
| 1998 | Marco Pantani (ITA) | Michele Bartoli (ITA) | Lance Armstrong (USA) |
| 1999 | Lance Armstrong (USA) | Jan Ullrich (GER) | Andrei Tchmil (BEL) |
| 2000 | Lance Armstrong (USA) | Erik Zabel (GER) | Jan Ullrich (GER) |
| 2001 | Lance Armstrong (USA) | Erik Zabel (GER) | Erik Dekker (NED) |
| 2002 | Mario Cipollini (ITA) | Lance Armstrong (USA) | Paolo Bettini (ITA) |
| 2003 | Lance Armstrong (USA) | Paolo Bettini (ITA) | Alexander Vinokourov (KAZ) |
| 2004 | Lance Armstrong (USA) | Damiano Cunego (ITA) | Óscar Freire (ESP) |
| 2005 | Tom Boonen (BEL) | Lance Armstrong (USA) | Danilo Di Luca (ITA) |
| 2006 | Paolo Bettini (ITA) | Alejandro Valverde (ESP) | Fabian Cancellara (SUI) |
| 2007 | Alberto Contador (ESP) | Fabian Cancellara (SUI) | Paolo Bettini (ITA) |
| 2008 | Alberto Contador (ESP) | Fabian Cancellara (SUI) | Carlos Sastre (ESP) |
| 2009 | Alberto Contador (ESP) | Mark Cavendish (GBR) | Fabian Cancellara (SUI) |
| 2010 | Fabian Cancellara (SUI) | Alberto Contador (ESP) | Andy Schleck (LUX) |
| 2011 | Philippe Gilbert (BEL) | Cadel Evans (AUS) | Mark Cavendish (GBR) |
| 2012 | Bradley Wiggins (GBR) | Tom Boonen (BEL) | Joaquim Rodríguez (ESP) |
| 2013 | Chris Froome (GBR) | Vincenzo Nibali (ITA) | Peter Sagan (SVK) |
| 2014 | Alberto Contador (ESP) | Vincenzo Nibali (ITA) | Alejandro Valverde (ESP) |
| 2015 | Chris Froome (GBR) | Peter Sagan (SVK) | Fabio Aru (ITA) |
| 2016 | Peter Sagan (SVK) | Chris Froome (GBR) | Nairo Quintana (COL) |
| 2017 | Chris Froome (GBR) | Tom Dumoulin (NED) | Peter Sagan (SVK) |
| 2018 | Alejandro Valverde (ESP) | Geraint Thomas (GBR) | Julian Alaphilippe (FRA) |
| 2019 | Julian Alaphilippe (FRA) | Egan Bernal (COL) | Primož Roglič (SLO) |
| 2020 | Primož Roglič (SLO) | Tadej Pogačar (SLO) | Wout van Aert (BEL) |
| 2021 | Tadej Pogačar (SLO) | Primož Roglič (SLO) | Wout van Aert (BEL) |
| 2022 | Remco Evenepoel (BEL) | Wout van Aert (BEL) | Tadej Pogačar (SLO) |
| 2023 | Jonas Vingegaard (DEN) | Mathieu van der Poel (NED) | Tadej Pogačar (SLO) |
| 2024 | Tadej Pogačar (SLO) | Remco Evenepoel (BEL) | Mathieu van der Poel (NED) |

### Wins per rider

| Rank | Rider | Wins | Second | Third |
| 1 | Alberto Contador (ESP) | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| 2 | Christopher Froome (GBR) | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| 3 | Miguel Indurain (ESP) | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 4 | Tadej Pogačar (SLO) | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| 5 | Fabian Cancellara (SUI) | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| 6 | Paolo Bettini (ITA) | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 6 | Peter Sagan (SVK) | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 8 | Tony Rominger (SUI) | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 8 | Jan Ullrich (GER) | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 8 | Alejandro Valverde (ESP) | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 8 | Primož Roglič (SLO) | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 12 | Laurent Jalabert (FRA) | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 12 | Tom Boonen (BEL) | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 12 | Remco Evenepoel (BEL) | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 15 | Marco Pantani (ITA) | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 15 | Julian Alaphilippe (FRA) | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 17 | Johan Museeuw (BEL) | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | Mario Cipollini (ITA) | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | Philippe Gilbert (BEL) | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | Bradley Wiggins (GBR) | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | Jonas Vingegaard (DEN) | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | Erik Zabel (GER) | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 22 | Vincenzo Nibali (ITA) | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 23 | Wout van Aert (BEL) | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 24 | Mark Cavendish (GBR) | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 24 | Mathieu van der Poel (NED) | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 26 | Maurizio Fondriest (ITA) | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 26 | Bjarne Riis (DEN) | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 26 | Michele Bartoli (ITA) | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 26 | Damiano Cunego (ITA) | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 26 | Cadel Evans (AUS) | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 26 | Tom Dumoulin (NED) | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 26 | Geraint Thomas (GBR) | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 26 | Egan Bernal (COL) | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 34 | Claudio Chiappucci (ITA) | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 34 | Evgueni Berzin (RUS) | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 34 | Abraham Olano (ESP) | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 34 | Alex Zülle (SUI) | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 34 | Lance Armstrong (USA) | 5 | 2 | 1 |
| 34 | Andreï Tchmil (BEL) | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 34 | Erik Dekker (NED) | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 34 | Alexandre Vinokourov (KAZ) | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 34 | Óscar Freire (ESP) | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 34 | Danilo Di Luca (ITA) | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 34 | Carlos Sastre (ESP) | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 34 | Andy Schleck (LUX) | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 34 | Joaquim Rodríguez (ESP) | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 34 | Fabio Aru (ITA) | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 34 | Nairo Quintana (COL) | 0 | 0 | 1 |

### Eddy Merckx Trophy (best classics rider)

| Year | Winner | Second | Third |
| 2023 | Mathieu van der Poel (NED) | Tadej Pogačar (SLO) | Remco Evenepoel (BEL) |
| 2024 | Tadej Pogačar (SLO) | Mathieu van der Poel (NED) | Jasper Philipsen (BEL) |

## Women's awards
### Vélo d'Or Femmes winners

| Year | Winner | Second | Third |
| 2022 | Annemiek van Vleuten (NED) | Lotte Kopecky (BEL) | Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (FRA) |
| 2023 | Demi Vollering (NED) | Lotte Kopecky (BEL) | Annemiek van Vleuten (NED) |
| 2024 | Lotte Kopecky (BEL) | Demi Vollering (NED) | Kasia Niewiadoma (POL) |

### Wins per rider

| Rank | Rider | Wins | Second | Third |
| 1 | Lotte Kopecky (BEL) | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 2 | Demi Vollering (NED) | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 3 | Annemiek van Vleuten (NED) | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 4 | Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (FRA) | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 4 | Kasia Niewiadoma (POL) | 0 | 0 | 1 |

### Eddy Merckx Trophy (best classics rider)

| Year | Winner | Second | Third |
| 2023 | Lotte Kopecky (BEL) | Demi Vollering (NED) | Alison Jackson (CAN) |
| 2024 | Lotte Kopecky (BEL) | Elisa Longo Borghini (ITA) | Marianne Vos (NED) |

## Additional awards
### Chris Hoy Trophy

The Chris Hoy Trophy is awarded to the best cyclist across the various Olympic cycling disciplines.
| Year | Winner | Second | Third |
| 2024 | Harrie Lavreysen (NED) | Ellesse Andrews (NZL) | Joris Daudet (FRA) |

### Gino Mäder Prize

The Gino Mäder Prize honors rider's social commitment. It is named after cyclist Gino Mäder, who raised money and frequently spoke in support of humanitarian and environmental causes, before passing away in 2023 after a crash at the Tour de Suisse.
| Year | Winner |
| 2024 | Luis Angel Mate (SPA) |